Michelle Malkin » A tribute to our Navy SEAL snipers

A tribute to our Navy SEAL snipers

By Michelle Malkin • April 12, 2009 09:31 PM

Captain Richard Phillips paid tribute to the Navy and the SEAL snipers who shot and killed three pirates during rescue operations today.

Here’s a video clip from a recent documentary on Navy SEAL snipers. God bless ‘em:

The Navy SEALs page is here.

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Details from Bloomberg News:

Sharpshooters firing from the fantail of a U.S. Navy destroyer killed three pirates holding an American cargo-ship captain in a lifeboat, ending a five-day ordeal that unfolded amid a surge in piracy off Somalia’s coast.

Richard Phillips, 53, captain of the Maersk Alabama, was untied, pulled from the lifeboat and brought unharmed aboard the USS Bainbridge, said Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command.

The Navy acted because Phillips’s life was threatened by pirates who were aiming weapons at him, Gourtney said. The on- scene commander “had seconds” to make a decision, he said.

…The Bainbridge had the lifeboat under tow shortly after 7 p.m. local time, roughly an hour after sunset, according to Gortney and a Navy press release. The vessel was 25 to 30 meters away when special forces commandos opened fire, Gortney said.

“We pay a lot for their training,” Gortney said of the snipers. “We got a good return on their investment tonight.”

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WaPo reports on how the SEALs mission unfolded.

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Posted in: War

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#101

On April 13th, 2009 at 5:14 pm, iamgman said:

How exactly is Obama seen as decisive in this when he took so long to allow the commander on the scene to attempt to rescue the captain only if he thought he was in imminent danger of being shot. I would hope the commander would take it upon himself to take action without waiting for orders if he thought the captain was about to be killed.

The only way he could hamstring them any worse would be to tell them to take no action for any reason. Or to go way out there, order the captain shot!
#102

On April 13th, 2009 at 9:27 pm, garydt said:

LGM, its no big deal that the AP would give BO kudos for this operation. After all and by this time don’t you already know that the MSM is in the tank with BO? I just hope the Seals and other similar groups are not on the chopping block of things to trim down on BO’s military budget.
#103

On April 13th, 2009 at 10:14 pm, corona said:

some more details, which of course, contradict what has been reported previously
#104

On April 13th, 2009 at 10:17 pm, corona said:

more from MM’s favorite birdcage liner:

The Defense Department twice sought Mr. Obama’s permission to use force to rescue Captain Phillips, most recently on Friday night, senior defense officials said. On Saturday morning, the president agreed, they said, if it appeared that the captain’s life was in imminent danger.
#105

On April 15th, 2009 at 2:04 pm, Chesapeaekegal said:

We should finish the job now and go to Somalia and take out their land bases.